News

One of our most popular events of the year is just around the corner. The Titirangi Mt. Everest Challenge is a 7 week event when people of all ages walk, run or cycle up Titirangi (Kaiti Hill) 68 times, which is equal to the height of Mount Everest. You can do it solo or as part of a team to help motivate each other.

This year, we’ve got some very exciting changes in store for the event! Our hard-working website elves are currently building a live, online leaderboard to track your (and your team’s) progress, toward conquering Everest.

We can’t wait to share all the details with you! In the meantime, get warmed up by tackling the maunga a few times and recruit a team of friends and whanau to join you in the challenge!

Central Football holiday programme

Holiday Fun Football is an action-packed holiday programme for kids aged 7-12. It’s a great way for boys and girls to have fun and develop their football skills whether they are total beginners or committed players.

Each session includes skill based training, so kids can learn the tricks and techniques to become better players. There are also plenty of chances to play football games in a fun environment, and experience the thrill of putting those skills into practice.

Where: Gisborne Girls High School Gym, Wellington Street
When: Monday 10th of July — 13th of July 2017
Time: 9am-3pm
Who for: 5-12 year olds.
Bring plenty of food & water for the day, along with boots, shin pads or shoes for the gym floor (must wear socks.)
Cost: $35 per day or $120 for 4 daysClick here to register

Netball Holiday Camp

Run by the Campion College Senior A Netball Team
For boys and girls in school years 4, 5 and 6. Each day runs from 9am – 3pm, and is $15 per day.
In the Campion College Gym
Bring a packed lunch, your netball shoes and a water bottle.
Week 1: Monday 10th, Tuesday 11th & Wednesday 12th
Week 2: Monday 17th, Tuesday 18th & Wednesday 19th

If you are interested in attending please text or email your child’s name and days wishing to attend to 021815905 or gb13005@campioncollege.school.nz, limited spaces available!

To celebrate National Volunteer Week, we’re giving a little love to all of the amazing sport volunteers who make sport happen in our region. No matter how big or small of a role you play in volunteering your time, it all counts to teams and individuals having the opportunity to play a sport.

We’ve profiled five incredible volunteers without whom our sport system would be at a great loss.

Amoe Tarsau and Trish Hina

Amoe Tarsau and Trish Hina have volunteered for Women’s Rugby for 6+ years in roles of coaching, administration, fundraising and washing uniforms. These ladies go the extra mile by picking up and dropping off their development team in the morning and afternoon, for gym workouts and speed training. Both are instrumental in organising amazing rugby opportunities for the girls.

The passion and drive they exhibit for their sport is inspiring, and can be seen rubbing off on our young ladies, in their developing their rugby talents.

John Scott

John Scott has volunteered in triathlon for 35 odd years, in a number of roles including club chair, manager and most prominently, coach. John dedicates countless hours and energy to the growth of triathlon in Tairawhiti, and the growth of the athletes that drive it.

When we asked his most treasured memory from his time as a volunteer, he was quick to recall the performance of the ‘gizzy kids’ at the 2014 National Triathlon Champs in Gisborne. He said, “the kids approached the event with great spirit and motivation, and turned heads with their strong performances.”

John’s incredibly passionate about helping kids to develop as athletes and people in his coaching. He commented, “there’s so much athletic potential in Tairawhiti, and the opportunity to help these athletes reach their dreams is what motivates me as a coach.”

Walton Walker

Walton Walker has been volunteering in Softball for an impressive span of 50 years, and in Waka Ama over a decade. His volunteering has been fuelled by his passion for the sports. As a softball player, Walton was a consistent pitcher who even today, rattles some of Gisborne’s best batters.

Walton has served over his time involved with sports, as the Treasuer, secretary and the last 10 years as President of Tairawhiti Softball Association. In his role as a coach, his calm assured demeanor, and knowledge of the game creates a force which players respond to.

When asked what motivates Walton, he responded: “The motivation for me is seeing people, especially youth, having the opportunity to experience things they may not otherwise get to do. With sport, its playing with your mates, enjoying yourself, meeting new people, going to national tournaments, winning or losing, winning a gold, a silver or even getting to the finals, let-a-lone just getting there and participating. If everything out front is going well then everything in the back must be operating well. I might be out the front man for the organisations I belong to but my work is in the back making sure things are ticking along”.

His memories are “all good memories, I don’t regret a moment of anything I have done in my voluntary experiences”.

Julie Hansen

Julie Hansen has been involved with the Gisborne Netball Centre since 1993. She has filled a huge number of roles over her years with the Centre which started out with her acting as a Trophy Steward. Other ​​roles have included: Tower duty, Timekeeper, Referee, Coach, Manager, Board member, Official – in fact, Julie has filled so many roles, it would fill a page. ‘Aunty Jules’ is an integral part of the GNC competition coordination. She is great at coordinating the duties on a Saturday and takes pride in the cleanliness of the pavillion and courts. Julie is always approachable and an amazing communicator with members of all of our clubs.

Julie’s motivation for volunteering is: “Netball is my 1st love. I love the game, and I love the people I’ve met. So many wonderful people, many of those I consider my life-long friends”.

A special memory when asked was “1995 was a crazy year. I was a couple of years into my time on the Netball Committee. I coached 4 teams, and also managed the 1995 Gisborne U21 Rep team who went to National Champs in Christchurch, and won their division. It was such a thrill being with the team.”

Sonia Keepa

What motivates Sonia? “In our busy lives for me to be able to give back in a real and meaningful way is something very special. I am motivated to share my knowledge and experiences, to pass on what I have learnt to others to help them be better, more confident and able to fully enjoy the ocean. Being involved with Surf Life Saving, especially at a Junior Development level, is so hugely motivating – to share the joy when a skill is mastered or watch as fear is overcome is simply inspiring. I love interacting and building relationships with members of our community through the connection of teaching our young children essentially life saving skills.

A share memory of Sonia’s: “The moments that stands out the most and gives me great joy, is when that new participant at the beginning of summer who has so much fear of the ocean, doesn’t even want to step on the wet sand, but turns into the child who is the last one out of the sea by the end of the summer”.

Sonia Keepa has played a major part in the successful running of the Wainui Surf Lifesaving Club for 10+ years. This involvement has included many varied positions where she has been on the Committee, Coached Nippers, Beach Education Instructor, Surf Lifeguard, managed various areas of the club such as coordinating coaching programmes, etc, etc. Sonia constantly goes above and beyond her call of duty, and is a dedicated volunteer and member not only locally, but also regionally where she has attended various courses in leadership, and coaching, and sits on the Regional Gisborne Junior Surf Committee.

Many Tairawhiti sports clubs are looking for new and innovative ways to remain sustainable in a climate where funding club assets presents a great challenge. Years ago, these clubs could fund their buildings and equipment through high membership numbers, bar revenue and community events. However today, there’s greater competition from other clubs and sports, and less opportunity for fundraising. To ease the financial burden of maintaining facilities, a number of clubs are now partnering with other sports in shared facilities to remain financially viable.

The Gisborne Harriers Club own and operate a well-equipped club rooms in Innes Street, in the Gisborne industrial subdivision. This facility is underutilised and the club would welcome other sports clubs or community organisations to share the facility and share some of the costs. The clubrooms is some 200 square metres in size, and has kitchen, changing room and shower facilities, as well as tables and chairs. The club is looking for longer term arrangements. If interested please contact Hans van Kregten on 0274474560 or hans@kaha.co.nz

This winter, every primary school football coach will have the tools they need to become a super-coach. Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti’s latest project, iCoach ensures that every coach has as much fun as their players.

iCoach is a series of ten instructional coaching videos created in conjunction with Central Football and Sport New Zealand, that are free and available on our website. The videos are aimed at parents who are new to coaching football, and provide tips, warm-ups and games for each week of training.

As Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti Coaching Advisor Ray Noble commented, “each video is five-minutes long, and provides the coach with a warmup and skill game to play with their team. Because they’re short and mobile-friendly, they’re perfect for busy parents who would otherwise struggle to plan their trainings ahead of time.”

Central Football CEO John McGifford remarked that the videos “provide a wonderful introduction for coaching at a junior level. This is set to be a most useful aid for coach development at an elementary level, development that will flow through for the betterment and increased enjoyment of players in the game.” As Karen Laurie of Sport New Zealand agreed, “Focussing on fun and building confidence around being active in the early years supports all New Zealanders to be motivated, competent and confident to choose being active for life.”

The videos focus on the ‘how to’ of coaching 5-7 year olds, and each weekly video aims to develop a different coaching skill, such as communication, philosophy and engagement. “Now, anyone can coach junior football. All you need is a little spare time and means of viewing our website,” said Mr. Noble.

Mr Noble continued, “Our vision is that every coach utilises this free resource, and has a great season. Then with any luck, they and their players will come back next year.”
To view the videos online, visit www.sportgisborne.org.nz/icoach

Ricardo Christie’s requalification campaign is off to a flying start, after winning the Martinique Pro last week in perfect, 3 to 4 foot waves.

The Mahia native qualified for the Championship Tour (CT) back in 2015. But during his season among the world’s best, he made it past the treacherous second round only three times. His best result was a quarterfinal finish in Brazil. He was not able to requalify, and returned to the Qualifying Series (QS) to work his way back.

Christie was under pressure early on, as his opponent had already put two decent scores on the board. But then the Kiwi started on a bomb and went all-out, risking everything on two super-critical turns for an 8.83 and ultimately, the big win.

“When the waves are like that you can forget everything and just go out there and surf,” he said. “I feel like I’ve improved a lot, I’ve just been working really hard and I learned a lot when I was on tour. It doesn’t feel like it’s over, it’s just the beginning of the year so I just have to keep doing my thing.”

In the Final, Christie was facing one of the best QS surfers there is, Bino Lopes. Lopes is the unlucky surfer who stood on the very edge of qualification last season, and saw the Championship Tour shut its door right in from of him, as he just missed the cutoff.